Anterior Insula Regulation and Pain Empathy

University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

Status: Completed

Conditions: Empathic Responses After Anterior Insula Regulation; Anterior Insula Activity During Regulation

Treatments: Device: real-time fMRI neurofeedback training running on Turbo Brain voyager (TBV) 3.2 (Brain Innovation, Maastricht, The Netherlands)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02463981

UESTC-SCAN-02

Details and patient eligibility

About

The aim is to test whether rtfMRI-based neurofeedback training on anterior insula impacts pain empathy.

Full description

In the present study, investigators plan to use the real-time fMRI neurofeedback to train healthy subjects to learn volitional control over their own anterior insula (AI) activity. Then the effect of AI regulation will assessed by examining subjects' empathic responses and functional connectivity changes. Subjects were separated into two groups randomly. While the experimental group received specific neurofeedback from their own AI, the control group received sham NF from an unspecific region.

Enrollment: 37 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 30 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Healthy subjects without past or current psychiatric or neurological disorders

Exclusion criteria

• history of head injury;
• claustrophobia;
• pregnancy;
• medical or psychiatric illness.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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37 participants in 2 patient groups

neurofeedback training

Experimental group

Description:

Neurofeedback training group receives neurofeedback from their own anterior insula.

Treatment:

Device: real-time fMRI neurofeedback training running on Turbo Brain voyager (TBV) 3.2 (Brain Innovation, Maastricht, The Netherlands)

sham control

Sham Comparator group

Description:

Sham control group receives sham neurofeedback from a large control brain region.

Treatment:

Device: real-time fMRI neurofeedback training running on Turbo Brain voyager (TBV) 3.2 (Brain Innovation, Maastricht, The Netherlands)